By Reuben Staines
Staff Reporter

North Korea has asked the South for an additional 150,000 tons of fertilizer aid, the government confirmed Monday, one day ahead of a new round of inter-Korean ministers’ talks.

Seoul officials said the North’s Red Cross requested the fertilizer aid, worth around 68 billion won, in a telephone message to its South Korean counterpart on Saturday.

``This is something that will be on the agenda at the 15th round of Cabinet talks,’’ an official said on condition of anonymity, declining to comment on how the government is viewing the request.

The ministers’ talks will be held from today through Friday at a hotel in Seoul.

South Korean Red Cross chief Han Wan-sang said his organization supports providing the additional fertilizer.

``On humanitarian grounds, we have concluded that sending an additional 150,000 tons of aid is appropriate and we urge the government to view the request positively,’’ he told reporters at a news conference.

South Korea has only just completed shipping 200,000 tons of fertilizer it pledged last month to the communist North, which is struggling to avert a severe food shortage.

In January, Pyongyang’s Red Cross asked Seoul for a total of 500,000 tons of fertilizer for the year.

South Korea has sent more than 500 billion won in fertilizer to the North since 1999.

The latest request comes in the wake of a rare face-to-face meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young on Friday.

During their discussion, the reclusive Kim promised North Korea would return to stalled multilateral talks aimed at ending the crisis over its nuclear weapons programs in July if the United States shows it respect. He also expressed a desire to strengthen inter-Korean ties.

South Korean officials welcomed the meeting as a breakthrough and said they will try to keep the momentum going.

This week’s Cabinet talks will focus on firming up the agreements reached on Friday.

Kwon Ho-ung, a top Cabinet councilor, was to arrive in Seoul this morning as part of a five-member North Korean delegation.

Unification Minister Chung will lead the South Korean negotiating team for the high-level talks, which have been stalled for over a year due to a cooling in inter-Korean ties.

South Korea will seek to set a date for the resumption of military talks between the two Koreas and discuss preparations for holding a new round of reunions for families separated by the Korean War, officials said.

The delegates will also discuss joint efforts to bring back to Korea an 18th century stone victory monument stolen by Japan around 100 years ago, government sources said.

Meanwhile, Red Cross chief Han will leave for Pyongyang on Friday to discuss plans for the inter-Korean family reunions, tentatively scheduled for Aug. 15.

Han said he plans to propose exchanging video messages between separated family members and the construction of a permanent reunion center at the North’s Mt. Kumgang resort.

rjs@koreatimes.co.kr